The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment takes effect from January 1, 2024 (replacing the 2009 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment), stipulating a number of provisions related to the training and development of human resources in health sectors.

Increase the number of tuition-free majors

Specifically, in Article 105 on training and fostering practitioners, the law requires medical examination and treatment facilities to be responsible for organizing and creating conditions for practitioners to participate in training, continuously update medical knowledge, and foster technical expertise and professional ethics.

Regarding scholarship policy, the state will grant scholarships to encourage learning for students majoring in psychiatry, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, infectious diseases and emergency resuscitation whose academic and training results meet the requirements for scholarships at training institutions in the state health sector.

Specifically, for students studying the above majors at state-owned institutions, full tuition and living expenses will be supported throughout the course.

Meanwhile, in the 2009 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the state only exempts tuition fees for students majoring in pathology, forensic examination, and forensic psychiatry. Thus, the number of majors exempted from 100% tuition fees has increased, with the addition of majors in psychiatry, infectious diseases, and emergency resuscitation.

For students at private training institutions, the state will also support tuition fees and living expenses for students in the above majors throughout the course corresponding to the prescribed level of study incentive scholarships.

To receive a scholarship, students must have academic and training results that meet the requirements.

In addition, students majoring in psychiatry, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, infectious diseases and emergency resuscitation who are working at medical examination and treatment facilities in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions will also receive scholarships.

The State also encourages organizations and individuals to grant scholarships or subsidies to learners.

Integrating traditional medicine content into training

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment also encourages the development of medical examination and treatment using traditional medicine. Specifically, it encourages the implementation of scientific and technological research activities on traditional medicine such as the discovery and research of herbal medicines, traditional medicines, research on traditional Vietnamese medicines and folk medicines that are effective in disease prevention and treatment, and research on the application of advanced technology to prepare herbal medicines and traditional medicines in modern formulations.

At the same time, encourage registration of intellectual property rights for traditional medicine and traditional treatment methods.

Therefore, the law also encourages the integration of traditional medicine training content into the training programs of training institutions in the health sector; diversifying training forms and types of human resources training in traditional medicine examination and treatment with different levels.